Their Compartment: Tales of the Hogwarts Express
by MaximusNightshade8
Summary: A series of one-shots following the Marauders and other characters on the train ride to or from Hogwarts.


**Disclaimer: (applies to all chapters from here and henceforth) I do not own any of the universe of Harry Potter or James Bond. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling, the brilliant lady that has enslaved my brain to HP.**

Chapter One

11 year old Remus Lupin looked around the platform, tightening his tie nervously around his neck. His shirt was pressed and neatly tucked into his trousers. Around his shoulders hung an over-sized black coat; his father's. Next to him, his trunk lay resting on the ground as he watched the crimson train pull into the station. He was early. Two hours and 3 minutes to be exact. That was good. He wanted to be here before any of the other students arrived. He didn't want to risk speaking to any of them until he absolutely had to.

"Stop fidgeting, Remus. You're turning blue."

Remus looked up into the commanding face of his father before dropping his gaze quickly, dangling his hands by his sides. "Sorry."

"You're not nervous are you?" came his father's voice again.

He shook his head. "No sir."

"It's okay to be a bit nervous y'know," spoke a gentler voice. His mother knelt by his side, smiling softly and smoothing down his sleeves. "You'll do brilliantly. You're a very smart boy."

"Magic too," his father said. "Two very good attributes. You'll use them to your advantage, won't you Remus? You need to be careful. I've already talked to Dumbledore-"

"Lyall, we've been over this. You must have told us at least 15 times by now," his mother said.

"Yes, well one more won't hurt will it? Remember Remus, the whomping willow is connected to that house I showed you in Hogsmeade that one day. You hit the right knot and you'll have your tunnel. Make sure no one follows you and be sure that the area is clear when you transform. You can do it, son."

Remus listened attentively as his father continued giving instructions. His mother had been right. He had heard this a million times it seemed but maybe it was for the best. The knot of anxiety in his stomach twisted and turned and he felt that if he was not reminded he would forget his name the moment he stepped onto the train.

"-make sure Dumbledore knows before anyone else once you speak to Pomfrey. Understood?"

Remus nodded, mumbling. "Yes Dad." Lyall Lupin gave his son a reassuring smile, ruffling his hair a bit before smoothing it back down into place. "Good. Would you like your mother and I to wait a bit?"

Remus glanced back at the train. A couple of older students with shining badges pinned to their robes had begun entering the train. Down the platform only one other person could be seen but he knew that soon, the station would be bustling with people. "No. I think I'll get on now. Thank you."

"Oh Remy. I'll miss you," his mother cooed as she enveloped him in a tight hug. "You'll be careful, okay Remus? You'll write as much as you can and tell us about the friends you make, alright?"

Again he nodded, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his face into her shoulder. "Love you Mom. I promise I'll write," he said before drawing himself gently out of her embrace and into his father's. After a few more words of farewell and warm kisses on the cheek from his mother, Remus had picked up his trunk, grunting slightly from the effort and had made his way to the train where a tall friendly looking wizard lifted the trunk onto the train after Remus.

Nodding to the man and giving him a polite 'thank you', he rolled his trunk behind him down the cars of the train, making his way as far to the back as possible, glancing occasionally inside the compartments. He chose the furthest compartment from the front of the train, lifting his trunk with a bit of effort into the luggage rack above the seat. A few minutes and grunts later, he had seated himself into the soft cushioning of the seat by the window. Reaching inside his cloak, he pulled out a small book with worn edges, its pages yellowing but still smelling of the rich musk of all older books.

Carefully flicking to the page where his leather bookmark had kept his place and wrapping his cloak around himself tightly, he began to read, the silence of the compartment soothing and creating a tranquil environment for his eyes to feast upon the dark inky words of the pages.

It could have been hours or years but soon the soft muffled sound of footsteps and voices began to emerge from outside his compartment as the new students gradually began to fill the train. He glanced up from his page and pressed his face against the cool glass of the window, peering at the platform which was now bustling with life.

There were wizards and witches rushing about, hugging, saying their goodbyes. Mothers weeping, couples kissing, some even snogging in corners as parents looked on in disapproval. Some people who were clothed similarly to how her mother had been were obviously muggles, standing out against the sea of billowing robes and generally looking awkward or confused except for a few families with older students.

Slightly down the platform from him were two boys that looked around his age. One had longer hair black falling around his eyes, his lips sporting a grin, his eyes laughing in amusement at what the other one must have said. The latter smirked, breaking into laughter, his rectangular spectacles sitting crookedly on his nose, matching the messy black hair that seemed to stick in all direction atop his head.

The second boy opened his mouth to speak before pausing, both boys turning to look at who Remus assumed was their mother. Deciding that watching two boys was a bit creepy, he turned back to his book getting through a whole chapter. The main character had just been told a secret that Remus had seen coming for a long time. After all, he _had_ read the book at least eight times.

The sound of the compartment door caused his head to snap up in surprise. It was the two boys from earlier.

"Hullo, mate. Mind if we sit here? Bloody prefects and older kids are chasing us off," the one with longer hair said.

The other rolled his eyes behind his glasses, his hazel irises glinting with a natural sense of mischief. "Pricks. Sorry, mind if I introduce us?"

"James, I am perfectly capable of introducing myself. Name's Sirius," the first boy said with a grin. "Sirius Black. Forget the Black part though. Don't fancy being related to a load of psychos."

'James' smirked. "My dear Sirius, you must be confused. You _are_ a psycho. Maybe not a trigger-happy nutcase, but you're definitely a psycho." He laughed as Sirius pouted, before turning to Remus, extending a hand. "James Potter at your service."

"Call him Jim," Sirius piped.

"Ignore him. He has dung for brains," James smirked. "What's your name, mate?"

Setting down his book, Remus took James's hand, giving it a firm shake. "Remus Lupin."

"Brilliant. So you _don't_ mind if we sit here?" Sirius asked.

Remus shook his head. "Be my guest," he said politely, earning a pair of smiles from both of the boys as Sirius plopped into a seat in front of him, tossing his trunk up onto the rack. Seating himself next to Remus, James glanced over at the leather book resting in his lap. "Whatcha reading?"

Remus glanced down at the book, holding it up for James to see. "Sherlock Holmes. It's a muggle mystery novel."

"Sherlock Holmes," Sirius mused. "Never heard of him. Thank my family for that. Pureblood fanatics and all."

Remus tensed a bit. Black. Pureblood. Weren't they involved with You-Know-Who?-

"That's what you get when you're stuck in Slytherin for 14 generations-" James started.

"18," Sirius corrected. "Speaking of Slytherin. What're you going for?"

James smirked, puffing out his chest proudly. "Gryffindor. Just like my father. How about you Remus?"

Remus had watched the conversation in awe, trying to piece together the two boys. Both seemed to descend from older wizard families. Pureblood by the sounds of it. But they didn't seem to have the prejudice that came with it. Especially Sirius. The Black's were notorious for their very public outlook on muggle-borns and half-bloods. It was a breath of fresh air that this one wasn't too fond of his family's traditional values. James didn't seem to possess any of the prejudice qualities as well. Maybe these people were people worth getting to know. "Oh uh, I don't really know. I guess I'll just go with what the Sorting Hat picks, right?"

"Go for Gryffindor. That's where all the best wizards come from. You'll get in. You look like a pretty good bloke. Besides, even if it's not an upfront Gryffindor pick you can always ask the Hat for Gryffindor. Then you can end up with Sirius and me!" James said with a smile. "Sirius will be the first to break the snake streak, eh mate?"

Sirius nodded, glancing briefly at his lap before meeting James with a lopsided grin. "Definitely. Give my Mum and Dad a heart attack while I'm at it."

"Not like you'll miss out on much, what with your Mum's portrait-whoa, look! The train's moving!" James said as the train gave a lurch and the platform started to move slowly past.

Turning his head, Remus watched as families waved goodbye to their children, including the two adults that must have been James's parents.

"Here we go mates! Off to Hogwarts! Now then, first order of business! We need rations! Sirius!" James commanded, getting to his feet and pointing at Sirius. "I hereby order you to hunt down a trolley. Stock up on as much chocolate frogs as you can! Hey Remus, have any preferences?"

"I'll have a box of Berty Bott's thanks. Here, I'll pay," he said, moving to reach for his trunk.

"It's no problem, Remus. I got it," James assured him, flipping Sirius a couple of galleons. "You're our new friend. I'm paying."

"Right! Off to hunt down some rations!" Sirius proclaimed, standing and opening the door, stepping out and nearly tripping over another student. "Holy-"

"Sorry!" Another boy with sandy blonde hair said nervously, scrambling back from the door. "I was just looking for a compartment to sit at! Everywhere else is full," he said, wringing his hands nervously.

James poked his head outside the door as Remus leaned for a better look at the stranger.

"Sure," James smiled. "You came to the right place! Welcome to our grand train compartment, mate. Mi casa es tu casa."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, glancing at the compartment opposite theirs where there appeared to only be two people. "I think that one would work too-"

"Aw stuff it, Black. Let the poor bloke in. Now go get some food!" James ordered.

"A little 'please' would've done the trick," Sirius grumbled, starting off down the corridor.

"So would a hex!" James called after him with a smirk, folding his arms across his chest.

Meanwhile, the visitor had seated himself where Sirius had previously sat. "Hi," Remus greeted politely.

"H-hi," the other boy replied. "I'm Peter. Peter Pettigrew."

"Remus Lupin. That boy with the glasses? James Potter," Remus said, smiling gently.

"Aye!" James called from the hallway. "'Tis me! The one who-"

"Can't see?" Remus offered, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips before quickly dropping it as James looked at him blankly. Anxiety welled up in his chest. What had he done? He barely knew the boy and then-

James burst into laughter. "Brilliant! I knew I liked you! Remus Lupin! Brilliant! I have to tell Sirius that one. He's the one who just ran off in case you didn't know," James explained to Peter who had been watching the two with what could have been an expression of confusion or just awe.

"Oh? Sirius?" Peter asked. "Okay...er, thanks for letting me stay. Those older boys were a bit scary, playing around with their wands."

James snorted. "They're not all that bad. Not when you have something like this!" he said proudly, whipping out his wand. "11 and a half inches of mahogany," he smirked. "Dragon heart string. What've you lot got?"

The question had taken Remus by surprise. To be honest, he had never really thought about his wand ever since the day he got it two weeks ago in Diagon Alley. His time and thoughts had been spent on his condition and what he would do when he arrived at Hogwarts. How he would sneak around. Ugh, sneak around. He sounded like a bloody rat.

"The man said it was made with dragon heart string," Peter said. Chestnut wood. Er...I think it's 9 and a quarter inches?"

"Huh, brilliant. Remus?" James asked, leaning against the doorframe.

However, thoughts spent away from the wand had not made him forget the words Ollivander had told him. "Cypress. 10 and a quarter inches. Unicorn hair core."

James raised an eyebrow. "Unicorn hair? Interesting core. Hear you can cast good spells with that one."

"Someone say spells?" Sirius asked, walking into the compartment, arms full of various treats and snacks before dumping them on the seat. "I can cast a few good ones."

"Hexes no doubt," James said, seating himself next to Remus.

"Don't pretend you're innocent yourself, James," Sirius retorted. "Bat bogey. Boil curse-"

"Have to be able to defend yourself, of course, eh Sirius?"

"Agree completely, James!"

Why wasn't Remus surprised that the two had already learned at least as many hexes as they had actual charms? The thought amused him. "You've already learned magic then."

"Grew up with it," James said. "How about you? Know a couple spells? Pete?"

Peter stuttered. "I-not really. I thought we weren't supposed to."

"Aw they don't really watch anyone under 11. That's why Sirius and I got in a bit of practice. Watch!" James said, standing up and heading out of the compartment across the corridor, sliding open the door as the other three stood to get a look at what he was doing. Remus considered questioning what he was doing but his curiosity got the best of him. Besides, it wasn't as if James would do anything _horrible_. He seemed too decent to pick a fight on the first day.

There were only two occupants of the compartment: a boy and a girl. The boy had long, dark, greasy hair and in Remus's opinion, a rather large hooked nose. As James opened the door, the boy's face contorted, his lip curling as if had smelled something foul. However, it seemed that most of James's attention was on the girl. Her hair was a dark, silky red, her locks gliding over her shoulders, her vibrant emerald eyes gleaming from her pale, lightly freckled and heart shaped face.

Immediately Remus sensed a change in James's demeanor as the messy haired boy's hand flew up to his hair, ruffling it and if possible, making it even messier than it had been before. "Hullo there, I'm sorry to interrupt but I am in need of some help, I'm afraid."

Raising an eyebrow, not noticing the look of disgust that had crossed over her companion's face, the girl stood to meet James at the door, standing about an inch taller than him. "Yes? How may I help?"

"Well see, I was hoping if your friend could help me in a demonstration for my friends. You see, they are very curious and I wanted to save them the effort of worrying about it until we got to Hogwarts."

"Oh um," the girl looked back at the boy a bit worriedly before nodding. "I suppose so. Sev, would you mind helping this boy-I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

A smirk curled along James's lips. "Potter. _James Potter._ "

Remus smiled to himself, remembering a series of movies he had watched with his muggle mother in the past. He half expected James to ask for his pumpkin juice to be shaken, not stirred.

"Lily, I don't know-" 'Severus' spoke up.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, won't it, James?" Lily asked, looking at said boy in question.

"Of course, Lily-pretty name by the way-completely fine. Won't even take that long. A minute even," he assured her.

"Well...as long as it's safe," she said, blushing lightly at the compliment.

"Certainly," James grinned, winking. "Er, Sev?" he asked looking past her.

"It's Severus," the dark eyed boy said curtly, striding past James into the hallway. "Okay, now what do you want?"

"Just stay there and answer this question," James told him with a smirk, eyes gleaming mischievously. "Ever considered dying your hair?"

Severus frowned in confusion. "Dye my hair-"

"Well good sir, do I have the spell for you! My dear lady and gentleman," James began with a grin, pulling out his wand dramatically and rolling up his sleeves to his elbow with a glamour that reminded Remus of the muggle illusionists and their top hats. "prepare to be amazed!"

The other four formed a semi circle around James, Peter and Lily taking their respective sides adjacent to Severus, and Remus and Sirius flanking James on either bore a face of interest, surveying the expressions of the group. Sirius grinned knowingly, sucking on a lollipop as he folded his arms over his chest. Peter watched with awe, fidgeting slightly in excitement as he prepared for James to begin. Lily also wore an interested expression although a shadow of worry lingered in her eyes as she glanced back and forth between Severus and James. As for the subject of majority interest, Severus tapped his foot impatiently, putting on a hard expression as he watched James carefully, stoically keeping his chin high though the nervous gripping of the robes at his sides betrayed his nervousness. This did not go unnoticed by Remus.

"Well go on then, James. Let's see it!" Sirius urged.

"Right. Let's start with something more conventional shall we?" James began, pointing his wand at Severus's head.

Severus frowned, watching the wand warily. "What are you doing-"

" _Colovaria!"_ James cried confidently and with a flash of light, Remus's eyes widened at the sight of Severus, who was now a strawberry blonde. Meanwhile Sirius has burst into laughter, Peter grinning as Lily looked on in surprise, a small smile curling on her lips. However, Severus was not as pleased with the change. Said boy's eyebrows raised in horror. "What did you do to me?!" he demanded.

"Just changed the color of your hair," James answered casually. "Don't like blonde?  
Shall we try something else? _Colovaria!"_ Again there was a flash of light from James's wand, but this time changing into a bright green. " _Viola!_ You're one with nature! You'll be brilliant in herbology! Hey Lily, don't you like it? It matches your eyes!"

Lily regarded Severus's hair with a raised eyebrow, smiling lightly. "Well...it _is_ rather green…" Lily said, holding a hand to her lips to stifle the chuckles. "C'mon Sev, its not _that_ bad."

"I like it! You should keep it that way mate," Sirius said, laughing harder and clutching the sides of the compartments for support. Peter had now also joined in with Sirius in laughter, holding his stomach as Severus's ears and face turned a bright red in anger. It kind of reminded Remus of Christmas and soon he had contributed a round of chuckles to the laughter that had now occupied all five of the students besides Severus.

Unfortunately, Severus was not amused. "I demand that you return my hair to original state, thanks!" he growled through gritted teeth.

James laughed. "Are you sure? It would go brilliant with your house. You look like the Slytherin-ey type."

Severus ignored this comment, stepping closer to James and scowling. "Return my hair to it's original state, _now Potter,_ " he spat. James raised an eyebrow at his tone, lowering his wand. "Relax mate, we're just have a little fun. No harm no foul."

"That's not what it looks like," Severus retorted, glancing angrily at his hair. "Lily, tell them to fix it!"

Lily frowned, looking at James. "James, maybe you should fix it."

"Aw c'mon, I'm just having fun! Look, Sirius and Pete like it. How about you Remus? Don't you think it's funny. Even a bit?"

All eyes turned to Remus. Personally, he _did_ think it was funny. The oiliness of Severus's hair made his hair gleam a bright green like some radioactive hair gel. But he didn't want to start a fight. It was his first day after all. But what kind of guy would he be if he let one grumpy boy ruin everyone else's fun? Of course, maybe James should take off the charm if Severus was getting so upset about it. Either way, Severus had a bad attitude in Remus's opinion. It was a harmless joke. If it was Remus in his place, sure he'd be a little embarrassed but eventually he'd be laughing too. That's why he sided with James. "Yeah, I think it's funny," he replied.

James broke out in a grin. "See! Everyone else is enjoying it. What about you Lily?"

"Look, James. I don't think Sev likes it-" she began.

"I don't!" Severus piped in indignantly.

"-so I'm going to have to ask you to take it off."

James's smile dampened slightly. "C'mon, look at him! Its great."

"Mate, when I had my hair like that a couple weeks ago I wouldn't take it off for a week! It was brilliant!" Sirius grinned.

"Yes, and obviously must have affected your head if you think this is brilliant. Take it off before I lose brain cells like him," Severus grunted, pointing at Sirius.

James frowned. "Hey, are you insulting him? Look it's just a joke. If you can't take it then maybe you're the one without the brain cells."

Severus scoffed. "Highly doubt that, _Potter._ I've seen the likes of you. Haughty. Arrogant. Think they own the world when really they're just a load of pigheaded baboons."

"Looked in the mirror lately, grease head? Oops, that's not possible. You probably broke every one you looked at," James shot back.

"Potter, stop," Lily commanded, stepping in between the two boys who were now within a foot of each other even though James towered over Severus. "Turn his hair back and leave us alone," she glared.

"But he-"James began.

"I said stop, _Potter,_ " she said firmly, looking determinedly in his eye. "You'll do well to listen next time you insult my friend. Now fix him," she ordered. Frowning and watching Lily carefully, James grudgingly complied, muttering the counter charm and returning Severus's hair to it's normal dark and greasy color. "There. Happy?"

"Very," she answered, turning away from him and pulling Severus back into their compartment, moving to shut the door.

"What, no 'thank you'?" James asked.

"Not to you," she said, shutting the door briskly with a thump.

"Well, she's a sweetheart," Sirius said, scratching his head.

"Huh, no kidding," James replied, still looking at the door. "How did that happen?"

"Well I must say, I _was_ amazed," Remus said. "Good spellwork, James. Although, your skills with girls could use some work," he smirked.

James laughed. "You think? Nah, she totally fancies me."

"Hit your head mate?" Sirius asked, plopping back into his seat in their compartment, propping his feet up on the seat across from him as the other three filed in after him, taking their own seats.

James rolled his eyes. "Shove off, Sirius."

"Rather not-Hey, you know what amazes me?"

"Hmm, the fact that within the last 15 minutes you've managed to eat 13 chocolate frogs?" Remus offered, settling into his seat by window and wrapping his cloak back around himself.

"No, but close. How about the fact that Severus hasn't already drowned in his sleep by the amount of grease dripping off his head? Honestly, his hair fossils must be leaking!-"

"You mean, follicles?" Remus corrected with a chuckle. "Hmm, I suppose."

"Nah, I think his nose is too big to let him drown. With nostrils like those, who needs a bubble head charm?" James grinned.

"What about the girl?" Peter asked. "Lily?"

"You mean my not-so-secret admirer?" James smirked, picking beans out of a box of Berty Botts. "Ah yes, her hair is _much_ better than ol' Greasy's."

"Look at James, obsessing over a girl's hair. Bent," Sirius laughed.

"Oi, you're the one who started the hair chat," James retorted.

"Ah, but wasn't James the one who was thinking about Severus's nostrils?" Remus pointed out.

"Too true, my friend," Sirius said. "I mean-"

Everything inside Remus seemed to hit a red light. "Friend?" Remus asked,

"Well yeah," Sirius said casually. "You seem to fit in alright, right? And you're a pretty cool bloke."

"Good sense of humour too," James said, taking off his glasses and cleaning off the lenses with his robes. "Besides, we're train mates! Train mates stick together eh?"

"What about me?" Peter asked.

"You're in too," James said. "Here, let's make this official! Everyone take a bean," he ordered, picking out four pieces of candy from the box and distributing a bean to each boy's outstretched hand. "Now then, as train mates-"

"And companions of bean-dom," Sirius added.

"Companions of _bean-dom?"_ Remus questioned, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"-and that," James continued. "We, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew of the Lords of the best train compartment ever on this Hogwarts express, hereby seal our friendship with the consumption of these beans!"

"Wow James, I don't think I've heard you use such fancy language since that preppy class when we were 9," Sirius smirked.

"Oh shut up and eat your bean."

"Aye aye captain!" Sirius obeyed, bringing the bean to his mouth and shoveling it in his mouth as Peter and James quickly did the same. Glancing around, Remus chuckled as the boys moaned at the horrible flavors they had gotten before shaking his head with a grin and eating the bean. Mm, blueberry.

And as a train mate, a bean-dom companion, and a Lord of the best train compartment ever on the Hogwarts express, Remus smiled happily as his cloak fell from his shoulders, forgetting his troubles and his condition, even for just a little while, as the Hogwarts Express drew ever closer to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

* * *

 **Author's Note: So this is the first one-shot of a series of one-shots that will follow the Marauders on the train rides to or from Hogwarts. I just came up with this idea two days ago so I'm not quite sure what all will be in it. Bear with me. Thanks for reading and please review. Reviews are like money in the writing world. Don't review, and I'll be as broke as I am in real life. Haha.**


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